Shattered Equanimity
by NuclearCookout
Summary: Life was good after Tails quit his job as a mercenary and married Mina, but things were turned upside-down after he saw his best friend murdered in front of his eyes, and he went over the edge. Contains strong violence, blood. Sequel to TailsTheMerc3.


Author's note: This is a sequel to Tails the Mercenary 3, so things may make a _little_ more sense if it and its predecessors are read first. However, this story can still be understood easily without doing so. Enjoy.

Shattered Equanimity

Tails placidly strolled down the canned goods aisle of a newly built supermarket on a cold, late-Autumn morning in New Knothole. He thoughtfully glanced at the oysters and clams on one of the upper shelves, and noticed that the prices were very good, especially since the planet's animal population was still recovering. He extended his robotic arm -- which had been covered in realistic synthetic fur months ago -- and grabbed a can to examine the details of the product. He and Mina just loved oysters, especially in hot soup, and since the days were getting colder as Winter approached, hot soup frequented the menu. After gathering around six cans of each bivalve, he proceeded toward the beans.

As Tails browsed the canned legumes, barely aware of his surroundings, Antoine and Bunny D'Coolette came around a corner. Antoine was distracted packages of ramen noodles, but Bunny noticed her orange friend immediately. In her distinctive Southern accent, she exclaimed, "Well now would'ja look at that, 'Twan! It's our old friend Tails!"

Tails nearly dropped the can he was holding, but then looked at his former teammates and said, "I didn't expect to see you two here! What a pleasant surprise!"

With his characteristic French accent, Antoine replied, "Indeed it is, Monsieur Prower! 'Ow are you an' zat lovely wife of yours doing?"

"We are doing very well," answered Tails. "Mina decided to stay home today because she was up late last night working on a novel. She just can't seem to stay off that word processor!"

"That sounds mighty interestin'! What's the story about?" asked Bunny.

"I'm not precisely sure, actually. I think it deals wi-..." incompletely stated Tails as his ears perked up.

The sound of gunfire could be heard outside, and Tails' eyes widened. He rushed to the glass front door, and beheld a truly horrific sight. A person was slowly walking along the sidewalk across the street, wearing a full-facial mask, a hood, a black body suit, and a black cape. They were firing a small, automatic, handheld, high-capacity gun at random passersby, and laughed maniacally while doing so. He could see numerous bodies on the ground, lying in puddles of their own blood; some were barely alive, but most were dead. Tails ran outside without even considering his own personal safety, and was quickly shot at, prompting him to take cover. He regretted the fact that he had forgotten his gun, partially due to him being too accustomed to his status as an ex-mercenary family man. Mouth agape, he watched his best friend Sonic rapidly approach the assailant from the side, and saw as he was immediately shot in the chest. The attacker walked over to the wounded, bleeding Sonic, lifted him up by the neck, and proclaimed to everyone in a deep voice that their revenge would soon be achieved. Tails bolted out from his hiding place toward the unidentified person as they put the barrel of the gun underneath Sonic's chin...and fired four times. After dropping the hedgehog's limp body, they shot Tails' robotic leg, causing him to trip, and flew away with a jetpack.

The following minute was composed of nothing but silence.

Tails felt completely numb as he gazed upon his blue friend's body. It was just lying there, so still, so quiet. He slowly arose from the dry, rough pavement and approached it, speechless, and bleary-eyed. The vulpine knelt down and checked for a pulse, simply to test if what he had seen was in fact reality. No pulse existed, and no movement was made, aside from a light wind rustling the quills.

Others slowly exited their cars and stores, and made their way to examine those who had perished. A few citizens went to see their fallen hero, but kept their distance as Tails began to weep bitterly. A few minutes later, ambulances arrived, and paramedics tended to those who had survived and contained those who had not in bodybags. Tails could barely contain himself as he watched Sonic's body being carted into one of the large, white vehicles. After the ambulance containing his friend's body departed down the street, Tails ran behind a dumpster and threw up. The whole incident was all so...ethereal. He just couldn't believe that his lifelong friend was dead.

Antoine and Bunny comforted him for the subsequent five minutes before he decided to call his wife and tell her the tragic news. However, all he got was the answering machine, so he assumed she was still asleep. He collected his thoughts for a few more moments, thanked his friends, and bid them farewell. Having considered simply leaving his grocery basket behind, Tails went ahead and paid for his groceries; after all, he still had a responsibility as a husband. Tails despondently walked to his ship and opened the door, where he unceremoniously stuffed the sacked groceries into a vacant storage compartment. After climbing into his seat, he crossed his arms on the steering apparatus, rested his head on his forearms, and tried desperately to hold back more tears as he continued thinking about Sonic. Moments later, he pulled himself together, activated the engines, and traveled to his newly-built home in the country.

Tails put the ship down in its designated parking area -- a simple concrete square in front of the house -- and exited the open door, groceries in hand. He was almost in a trance; all he could think about was Sonic, the many good times they had in the past, and his ersatz wit. All the years gone by, all the memories. Tails failed to notice that his front door was already wide open, but snapped out of the trance when he saw that everything around him had been completely trashed. The sofa had been sawn in half, the holographic TV generator was in pieces, and many other things had simply been scattered about. He dropped his groceries when he saw blood on the floor. Again and again, he called his wife's name as he searched the entire house. Eventually, he came upon a note attached to one of the bedroom walls by a long knife. He quickly rushed over, opened it, and read, "I'm glad you found this message, Mister Prower. I am sure you've had a fairly rough day by now, and this must only add to your frustration. Yes, I am the one who killed your childhood friend, Sonic. I got a bit of a satisfying rush from it, too. If you do not want the same to happen to your wife, Mina, meet me at the mining quarry fifteen miles south of here as soon as possible, preferably before noon. Then we shall meet vis a vis, and discuss our issues with one another. Ciao."

Tails stood there for a few minutes, motionless, aside for some sporadic flinching. Fragmented, tormenting thoughts raced through his mind as it processed everything that had happened. He had just been broken; snapped, if you will. A single, warm tear traveled down his muzzle, and he slowly tore the note in half, fell to his knees, and bellowed at the top of his lungs. Trembling with a multitude of emotions, he stormed into his new workshop behind the house, where all his weapons and gadgets awaited him. He sat down and meticulously unhooked his life-like mechanical arm from its anchoring point, furiously threw it into a corner, and opened the cabinet where he stored replacements and other versions. He grabbed the most powerful, menacing one he could find. He had built it a month after he killed Bark, but never used it. It was a bit bulkier than the other appendages, lacked the realistic fur of his current model, and contained many more features, all modular, such as a net launcher, a double-barrel stacked-projectile gun, an energy cannon, and a tractor beam projector, among others. It was heat-resistant up to forty-five-thousand degrees, could withstand over a hundred tons of pressure per square inch, and had the ability to crush a baseball-sized sphere of solid steel. There were also three small anti-gravity generators to reduce the weight to that of a normal arm. He attached it to the arm-port, and proceeded to replace his leg with another modified counterpart. His current one sported realistic fur, above average power, and the usual rocket boosters. The replacement was a bit bigger, lacked fur, could lay small mines, had more powerful boosters, and could telescope to a certain extent. All that remained was his faux-fur tail, which he switched with the typical hairless, shiny model with an extendable stinger. As he began to head for the gun locker, he looked into a tall, cracked mirror, and was pleased with what he saw. He saw a formidable, powerful opponent; a person who could ravage the very psyches of his enemies. He saw somebody who could succeed, and that's all he cared about. Victory. Vengeance. The latter was in total disregard of his personal code of honor, but as of that day, he had no code. Tails' mind was shattered asunder, and he frankly didn't care if the vermin who committed the day's atrocities suffered. He would even happily rip an opponent in half without hesitation if the situation presented itself.

After grabbing a heavily modified terran KRISS submachine gun, complete with ammunition containing antimatter-producing-microcomputers, Tails made his way into his ship and took off in the direction of the mining quarry. The twin-tailed fox activated the autopilot, clasped his hands together, and thought while wearing a subtle scowl. The idea of the repulsive scum who killed his best friend gaining a particular enjoyment out of the ordeal made him furious well beyond the realm of what was considered healthy. His main desire, of course, was to retrieve his lovely wife, but following closely behind was his desire to enact pure, unbridled reprisal. He didn't just want them to pay, he wanted them to _suffer_, and felt justified because of how they smothered the life of a time-honored hero -- someone who only wanted to protect the innocent. In addition to Sonic's death, there were the numerous civilians who were murdered on that cold morning, and Mina's capture was what took him over the edge.

Four minutes passed, and Tails set the ship down on a flat gravelly area overlooking the massive, abandoned excavation pit. He disembarked from his ship, gun in hand, and gazed across the silent landscape; the only noise being a few capricious zephyrs. His ship automatically took off so it could circle the area safely overhead.

Suddenly, a voice came in over a loudspeaker, "Nice to see you here, Tails! If you would kindly drop your weapon and descend into the pit, that would be lovely."

Since he wasn't in the mood for surprises, Tails used a monocular to scan every storage building nearby. There were no lifeforms, only large machinery. Suspecting a trap, he brought the KRISS to his shoulder, set the bullets to detonate like hyperbaric demolition bombs, and started blasting the warehouses apart. He knew that the criminal had no leverage if they killed Mina, so he wasn't terribly bothered by the possibility of her execution. As the buildings exploded, out came fifteen Egg-Beater mech-suits, just like the one Ivo used to pummel Sonic in the wake of his attack on Old Knothole all those years ago. Tails gleefully blew them to pieces, one by one, completely oblivious to the mech right behind him.

With a low, very familiar voice, it said, "Long time no see, Tails," and used its wrecking-ball-like flail to smack him sixty feet away. "I did not expect you to act so quickly. It appears we've both changed over the years." The remaining ten suits circled the quarry like hawks hungrily awaiting their prey to make a move.

As Tails slid to a stop, he immediately got back to his feet and looked at the more-advanced suit with a somewhat shocked expression. He knew it couldn't be HIM, or could it? Could HE have survived the orbital bombardment nearly three years ago?

"Surprised to see me, carpet? My apologies; I meant not to be rude, but the reticence of my absence was necessary. You see, the full-scale attacks left me...wounded, and I required sufficient time to rebuild my strength. As you can see, I have done so very nicely," said the suit while menacingly swinging its large, spherical flail.

"That couldn't have been you," replied Tails while staying alert of his surroundings, "The person who killed Sonic was far too slender and, well, pleasing to look at, to have been YOU."

The Ivo-suit laughed, and mordantly responded, "Closed-minded, assumptive fool! Can people not change appearance over time?! HA! Your stupidity amuses me as much as it did when I destroyed your feeble city oh-so long ago. You may be stronger, bu-..."

Tails blew the suit nearly a hundred feet back with a well-placed bullet, without even letting it finish. If it was indeed Robotnik, he would enjoy killing him all-the-more. He then used the rockets in his right foot to blast off toward the tyrannical doctor; the anti-grav generators in his arm were used for balance. The Ivo-suit quickly regained stability, ignited its own boot-rockets, and summoned its minions for assistance. Tails fired more rounds, but the blasts were deflected by a powerful, freshly-activated shield.

"I underestimated you again, Tails! That first blast made my ears ring! However, consider it a one-off hit, as I won't allow it to happen again, and neither will my superior shields!" proclaimed the Ivo-suit as it launched numerous missiles from the pods on its back.

Tails dodged each one, but was subsequently smacked by an automated mech-suit that happened to intercept him. The blow caused him to drop his gun, and it landed on a small mound of gravel. A proverbial fire ignited in his eyes, and he readied his arm for combat. He trailed one of the suits, hitched a ride, and used the position to shoot down three other suits with his built-in energy cannon. Once the Ivo-suit caught on and launched more missiles, Tails dove off and allowed the missiles to hit the mech instead. With only seven automated suits remaining, his confidence endured at a high level. He allowed himself to fall, and would have hit the ground had it not been for him rapidly pulsing his foot-rockets to stop his descent. This allowed him to grab his gun quickly, and after seeing more missiles incoming, he blasted off into the sky and triturated four more suits with the powerful bullets before getting smacked by the Ivo-suit again. Tails tumbled into a grove of trees and disappeared into the foliage.

"I must hand it to you, rug, you're putting up much more of a fight than your late, blue, rodent friend!" deleteriously shouted the Ivo-suit as it entered the grove and touched down onto the ground with a thud. As its minions mimicked the action, the Ivo-suit noticed a smoke trail exiting the arboreal cluster. Tails had taken that opportunity of obscurity to travel well out of range and soar high into the sky. The vulpine looked down as he continued his ascent, aimed his weapon, and fired as he shielded his eyes. He had just set that particular bullet to produce an explosive yield equivalent to a ten-kiloton nuclear device. The resulting explosion incinerated both the remaining automated suits and the Ivo-suit.

"That was too easy," said Tails as he descended to the ground while watching the rising mushroom cloud. The sight of the incandescent toroidal vortex reminded him of just how much he enjoyed massive explosions. He looked around after landing, and shouted, "What's next, you dirty waste of oxygen?! I know that was just a souped-up automated Egg-Beater mech suit with your voice in it! Show yourself! Show your battered, weak body in person, like a true warrior!" Tails had noticed nothing except the reflection of sensors behind the suit's transparent visor. If it had actually been Robotnik, he would have interrogated him for information about Mina before killing him.

Around four-hundred feet away, in a clearing between two exploded buildings, appeared a dark figure -- the same figure Tails had seen murder Sonic. Having spotted them, Tails rocketed in their direction. He landed about thirty-five feet away, and said, "Why...WHY have you committed so many atrocities today? What was the purpose of ruining so many lives?!"

The masked, darkly-clad figure answered, "I will answer that on one condition. You must travel to New Mobotropolis Secundus. Near the southernmost relay tower is a cluster of warehouses. Go to the largest one, and your questions will be answered. Don't bother shooting the place up, either. Just do things my way and I won't have to torture Mina to death."

Infuriated, Tails responded, "And what's to keep me from blowing off your legs and interrogating you right now?"

"Because," the person concluded, "I am merely a hologram." With that, they disappeared. The hologram projectors nearby exploded shortly thereafter.

Feeling as though there was no way around the matter, Tails called his ship, and made his way to his next destination. Again, he put it on autopilot, and gave himself to thinking. He wondered how Ivo actually survived the multi-million-degree detonations. He knew one of the nukes exploded almost directly over his base, and that he probably didn't possess anything to protect himself from such a titanic blast. Perhaps he traveled deep underground beforehand, but how could that portly genetic mistake have known to do so in such short notice? All sorts of questions fluttered around in Tails' fragmented, distraught, angry mind as he speedily approached the warehouse.

When he got within half a mile, he scanned the area with his ship just to make sure there weren't any open-air missile emplacements or infantrymen awaiting him. Having detected nothing, he drew closer to the target building, and scanned it as well. All he saw was the heat signature of a singular individual standing in the center. He didn't detect any robots, bombs, or additional organics, but this didn't lessen his awareness of the possibility that something unexpected could still occur. After putting the ship down in a street, Tails offloaded with his trusty gun and assiduously advanced toward the main door as his ship departed. He slowly opened the door, and peered inside the cavernous, well-lit room.

The dark figure standing in the middle of the room exclaimed, "Welcome again, Tails! Please, make yourself at h-..."

The two-tailed fox immediately cut in, "I'm here for my wife and your head. Show her to me, and then we can talk."

The individual smiled under their mask, and continued, "I was just getting to that. There is your wife." They pressed a button, which activated the lifting mechanism of a false wall on the small office complex within the large room. Behind the wall was a large glass panel that revealed a room with Mina inside. She was strapped to a wooden chair, and had a bulky collar fastened around her neck. Additionally, the room contained an invisible, harmless energy field which had prevented Tails' scanners from detecting her. "The collar will fry her if you fire one shot at me, so I would advise you to drop your gun and kick it into the corner. That goes for any other weapons you might happen to have hidden within your appendages."

Tails knew he didn't need projectile weapons to exact his revenge, so he tossed his gun and detached the corresponding modular accessories from his arm and leg. With small buzzing noises, the various openings that were left on his cybernetic limbs closed themselves off with small metal plates.

"Good, Tails, very good. Now, I want you to come closer to me. I want you to get a good look at the face of your conqueror," bloviated the possible Robotnik.

Tails sneered and replied, "And how can I be certain that you won't simply shoot me in the face?"

The individual pressed a button on their belt, and Mina writhed in pain for two seconds. As Tails began to charge, they said, "Stop! That was only a demonstration of what will happen every time you question me. Please, proceed more slowly."

Fuming, Tails complied. When he got within ten feet, he was ordered to stop. The individual removed their mask, and revealed their identity to be Fiona Fox. Before he could utter her name, she outstretched her hand and unleashed a static discharge that sent Tails hurtling almost into the wall behind him, but he hit the floor instead.

Fiona was laughing the entire time, and said, "You actually thought I was Robotnik! That is so funny! Everyone knows he died in the attacks, but my guise was so convincing, wasn't it? The idea that he had survived and come back for more, HA!" She then removed her hooded cape, black bodysuit, and finally her height-increasing stilts, revealing her typical yellow jumpsuit. The only thing different about it was a series of silver bands running along the limbs and torso.

Tails struggled to get back to his feet. His clothing was smoking slightly, and the discharge had sent the circuits in his prostheses into a frenzy, making it difficult to control them. He looked at her with a gaze so hateful that words could barely describe its intensity.

She continued her derisive laughter, and added, "Yes, YES. Your anger is what I wanted to see all along. I want you to suffer for what you did. When you broke my arm, it failed to heal properly, so now there's a glaring lump and almost continuous pain. I will never forgi-..."

Having finally gained his footing, Tails interrupted, "Oh boo hoo! I do believe they have surgeons for that!"

"Idiot!" she snapped, "I'm a wanted felon! I can't just show my face in public! Oh, and this isn't the only reason for my unfathomable hatred. You know very well how Sonic neglected to save me from the hands of that bloated freak when I was a child. Killing him today made up for it nicely."

"WHAT ABOUT THE INNOCENTS YOU MURDERED?!" blurted Tails as his fur slowly puffed up.

She responded, "Only a method to lure Sonic. Look, enough of this banter. I hadn't planned to spend my time explaining things, or electrocuting you for that matter. I had planned to fight and defeat you in hand-to-hand combat. My goal is to watch you die in pain."

"Well good luck with that, because you will need it!" shouted Tails as he ran toward her, making his limbs function the best he could.

Impossibly, she leapt high into the air, touched the ceiling with her feet, and propelled herself into Tails at an angle, knocking him down hard. After retreating to a safe distance, she began to circle him and said, "Like my enhancement suit? As you may be aware, it increases my strength and agility exponentially. You stand no chance!" She ran up to him and kicked him clear across the floor.

The kick, however, caused his limbs to resume total functionality. Having noticed this, Tails lay there and pretended to be in considerable pain.

"Oh, please!" she chided, "Are you THAT weak? Am I, a woman, so much of a challenge to the great Tails 'the Mercenary' Prower, that he can't even get back up? Perhaps another kick will stimulate your willpower."

When she got close enough, Tails grabbed her by the ankle and jerked her to the floor. He then stood up while still holding her ankle, and slung her into a wall with enough force to dent it. This only irritated her, though, and she rapidly went on the attack. She swung at Tails' face, but he leaned back fast enough to dodge the blow. He then grabbed her arm, but she quickly tripped him with a swift kick, and punched him in the abdomen hard enough to send him aback by a few feet. Before he could regain his stability, she leapt up and kicked him in the face, again sending him to the floor.

"Weak weak weak. That's what you are," she contumeliously remarked as she kicked him across the floor again. "How do you survive out there? How have you made it this far if you can't even begin to get the upper hand against me?"

As Tails prepared to get back up, he saw Mina's tearful face watching him. This pushed him over the edge even further. When Fiona, who was approaching him from behind, got within five feet, he lifted his prosthetic leg and rapidly extended it. Not only did his foot plow into her stomach, he pulsed the powerful rockets briefly. This combination sent her sailing across the room and into the wall again. Unfortunately, her collision activated the button on her belt, and Mina began flinching from the electrical torture collar around her neck. Tails rushed over to her cell and tried break the window, but it was thick and bulletproof. The next option was to rip open a hole in the surrounding metal, which he did with relative ease using his robust robotic arm. He rapidly broke through, snapped the collar, and was in the process of untying her when Mina alerted him of Fiona's return with muffled screams. He stood his ground and fought Fiona as she entered the room. She ended up smacking him in the head, and threw him out into the huge, open room during his brief disorientation. During Tails' attempt to untie her, Mina noticed something in his eyes -- something different. Something unsettling. Something...frightening.

"That was a neat leg trick, Tails, I wasn't expecting it. It is also yet another thing which I will not allow to happen again," Fiona said while running at the battered orange fox.

Tails tried to repeat that very attack, but Fiona dodged it, grabbed the extended leg, and proceeded to sling him. Having planned this, he throttled his rockets to full capacity and sent both him and Fiona flying. She collided with a wall yet again, and he came to rest in the rafters above. While clinging to a large beam, he gazed down and saw that his enemy was barely conscious. An insidious grin traveled across his face, and he dropped down and approached her. Before she could gather the strength to fight back, he grabbed her by both legs and slung her into the wall repeatedly, grunting with increasing vigor each time he did it. After slamming her eight times, he dropped her to the floor. She lay there, barely moving, and bleeding slightly from various impact wounds. He felt not an iota of mercy, not a shred of pity, only pure, invective vengefulness. He bent over, grabbed her by the neck, and held her up against the wall, leaving a two-foot gap between her feet and the floor. She managed to weakly grab his arms to support herself and keep her neck from breaking. Tails used the tractor beam in his free robotic hand to drag his gun into his grasp, and subsequently pressed the barrel against her chest.

"Your actions today are unforgivable, Fiona. You murdered dozens of innocents, you slaughtered a global hero, and you kidnapped and TORTURED my innocent wife. You will not make it out of here alive," growled Tails with a nearly malevolent voice.

Almost unable to speak, Fiona looked him in the eyes and muttered, "S-...Sonic is still alive..."

The words struck Tails like a sledgehammer. With moderately widened eyes, he replied, "Wh-...what?"

She responded with a broken, faint voice, "I used a weakened clone...I had a c-cloning vat I recovered from Robotnik. Ssssonic's in this buildi-..."

Tails pulled the trigger without even thinking. The bullet passed straight through her heart, through the metal wall, and into some construction equipment outside. Blood drizzled from both of her bullet wounds and down from the red starburst on the wall behind her, and Tails watched as the life drained from her eyes. Her grip became limp, and her arms dropped to her sides.

Mina was in shock from what she had just witnessed. Her feelings were correct. Tails had changed. Above her room sat Sonic behind a one-way glass strip, and he, too, witnessed his friend's darker side emerge.

While shivering, Tails threw her lifeless body, dropped his gun, leaned up against the wall, and plowed his metal fist through the steel plating as tears streamed down his snout. He had achieved his ultimate revenge, but felt absolutely disgusting. He had become bloodthirsty in his desire to right the wrongs done on that tragic day. He looked down at his hands as he regained his posture, then at his wife. The broken fox could barely cope with showing his face to her. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was still tied to the chair and unable to leave, he may have grabbed his gun and put a bullet through his own heart, because that's exactly what he felt like doing. However, he knew his death would just place more pain upon her, so he quickly decided against it. He broke through his shame after a few moments and slowly made his way toward her.

Still shivering, he entered the room almost reluctantly, and began untying his wife. Each knot undone felt like it had taken hours to accomplish. After untying her, he ruefully turned his back and started to search for a door leading to another room, in the hopes of finding his blue friend. Mina stood from her chair, gently grabbed her husband's arm, which caused him to jolt slightly, and hugged him after turning him around. Tails hesitantly embraced her, as he had expected only fear and contempt. He didn't deserve her love; he knew that quite well, but he was immeasurably grateful for such a devoted and caring wife.

Together, they rescued Sonic, and the three of them entered his ship and flew home. Tails knew he had a long road ahead to recover emotionally, but at least he had his family back.

Sonic the Hedgehog characters and places are copyright of Sonic Team/Sega

Story, etc is copyright of myself, NuclearCookout


End file.
